Technology scaling has led to the development of fin-based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) structures as an alternative to the bulk-Silicon (or bulk-Si) MOSFET structure for improved scalability. The fin-based MOSFET utilizes a silicon fin to wrap the conducting channel, which forms the body of the transistor. In effect, the gate electrode of the transistor straddles or surrounds the fin. During operation, current flows between the source and drain electrodes of the transistor along the gated sidewall surfaces of the fin.
With the introduction of the fin-based process, fixed distance restrictions are imposed on the available transistor sizes. In particular, the width of the transistor is limited to multiples of a fin pitch. That is, the transistor sizing is dependent upon the number of fins that forms the transistor. This restriction reduces the flexibility of circuit designs.